Book Perspectives – Lee Lawson and Sue Watkins

Printed in the Conscious Creation Journal
December 2000 – January 2001, Issue 15

Book Perspectives – Lee Lawson and Sue Watkins

Visitations from the Afterlife:
True Stories of Love and Healing
by Lee Lawson
Harper Collins (HarperSanFrancisco) Publishers
©2000, Lee LAwson, All rights reserved
Nonfiction

Perspective by Kristen Fox

I was excited to read this book for many reasons, the primary one being that I got STARTED on my metaphysical path by reading the ‘life after death’ books – stories of Near Death Experiences and Visitations by such authors as Melvin Morse and Raymond Moody.  Also, there’s something quite appropriate about reading ‘ghost’ stories in October.

But unlike the NDE and visitation stories I read so many years ago, Lee Lawson’s book of afterlife visitation stories approached the material not from an objective angle of accumulating ‘evidence’, but from a new level altogether.  A level of knowing that these experiences are not only NORMAL, but can be tremendously helpful to all involved.  This was refreshing and allows the reader to step into a fuller acceptance that the ‘unseen’ exists, and that it’s ‘okay’ to talk about these experiences.

Ms. Lawson’s narrative and presentation were accepting and loving, but also rather shrewd and discerning at the same time.  The book is given in chapters that are divided by patterns or similarities in a visitation’s purpose or enactment; for instance, there are stories from people who are touched by or attempt to touch their visitors, visitors who come with warnings or guidance, visitors who return to say goodbye, etc.  (In her own way, the author offers a mental framework you can start with when attempting to understand ANY kind of ‘nonphysical’ occurance.)  It’s almost scientific in its approach, but that’s deftly interwoven and softened by the sense of genuine warmth and awareness that Ms. Lawson brings to the subject.  She isn’t just a great storyteller – it’s also obvious that she has an in-depth and intuitive understanding of life and consciousness as a whole.

At the same time, it’s a smart AND feel good book, and is the kind of book that you want to give to family and friends as a gift, whether they are ‘into’ metaphysics or not, particularly those who may have recently lost a loved one themselves.  Ms. Lawson helps us accept that death is not an end, and brings a whole new light that gently helps us move into this understanding, almost without us knowing we’re being changed.

Here’s a clip from the inside cover:

“A visitation – a spontaneous encounter with a loved one who has passed on into the next world – is a life-altering and transformative experience.  Soemtimes a loved one returns to say “Good-bye, for now,” or to bring a vision of the afterlife or a lesson for this life.  Often the spirit brings the blessed peace of healing to a grieving loved one – someone who has lost a parent, a partner, or a child.  However they come, these extraordinary moments of reunion leave the living blessed and forever changed….”

You can read more about Lee Lawson’s book and browse through her gallery of incredible and unique artistry by visiting her web site:
http://www.leelawson.com

Speaking of Jane Roberts: Remembering the Author of the Seth Material
by Susan M. Watkins
Moment Point Publishers
©2000, Susan M. Watkins, All rights reserved
Nonfiction

Perspective by John J. McNally

Had anyone else besides Sue Watkins written this book, I probably never would have read it. I trust Sue Watkins writing, her books Conversations With Seth: The Story of Jane Robert’s ESP Class Volume I and II were among my favorite Seth books. Reading them, I felt as if I got a real sense of who Jane, Rob, and Seth really were, as well as a taste of the ESP class experience. I hoped that Sue would open similar doorways into the persona of Jane, and I was not disappointed.

Jane Roberts was an extremely complex woman, motivated as much by her fears as she was by her creative desires. Sue portrays a (sometimes painfully) honest picture of Jane. Not the Goddess Jane that many fans sought after, but the flesh and blood human being that tried to hide many of her frailties from even her closest friends.

As a journalist, Sue Watkins does an excellent job of presenting an in-depth look into Jane’s life, while remaining objective enough to let the reader draw his/her own conclusions as to “why” Jane chose the life (and death) that she did. There is a tapestry of beliefs which are revealed in the text; a portrait of Jane which is sometimes painful to read, but well worth the effort.

©2000, Kristen Fox, John J. McNally.   Printed in the December 2000 – January 2001 Issue of the Conscious Creation Journal.  http://www.consciouscreation.com (Feel free to duplicate this article for personal use – please include this copyright notice.)